Greider received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1983. The following year she enrolled as a graduate student in molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, where she joined Blackburn’s lab. Together, Greider and Blackburn investigated mechanisms of chromosome maintenance in cells. The research led to their joint discovery of telomerase, which they initially isolated from Tetrahymena, a protozoan that, relative to other organisms, contains an abundance of telomeres. Greider and Blackburn found that telomerase adds DNA to telomeres and thereby helps maintain the functionality of chromosomes. In 1987 Greider received a Ph.D. in molecular biology and subsequently was awarded a fellowship to conduct research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. There she continued her investigations into telomerase, characterizing genetic elements of the enzyme and further elucidating its cellular functions. In 1990 Greider was made assistant investigator at Cold Spring Harbor and later became associate investigator (1992) and investigator (1994).

In the mid-1990s Greider’s research became increasingly focused on telomere length. Telomeres are composed of repeated segments of DNA, and multiple repeat segments are lost each time a cell divides. When telomeres have been reduced to a certain length, cell death occurs; thus, telomeres play an important role in determining cell life span. However, in certain types of cancer, telomere regulation of cell life span is rendered dysfunctional. Greider suspected that abnormal regulation of telomerase contributed to the development of certain cancers. She discovered that inhibiting telomerase activity in cancer cells with dysfunctional telomeres prevents cell survival and thereby slows tumour growth. This research led to the subsequent emergence of telomerase as a potential target for the development of anticancer drugs.

In 1997 Greider took a position as associate professor of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., where she became full professor in 1999 and professor of oncology in 2001. In 2003 she earned the title of Daniel Nathans Professor and director of the department of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins. In the early 2000s Greider continued to investigate the role of telomeres and telomerase in the development of cancer. She also studied the influence of telomere shortening on aging and age-related diseases.

In addition to the 2009 Nobel Prize, Greider received numerous other awards throughout her career for her telomere research, including the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Science (1999; shared with Blackburn), the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (2006; shared with Blackburn and Szostak), and the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences (2006; shared with Blackburn). Greider also was elected a member of multiple science organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences (2003).